Berlin (AFP)
German triathlete Jan Frodeno, confined to his home in Girona in Spain due to the Covid-19, managed to finish an incredible Ironman at his home Saturday after more than 8:30 hours of effort.
"It is mentally a great challenge to master these 226 kilometers without moving more than five meters from where you are," he said on the video which filmed his feat live.
The 38-year-old Beijing triathlon Olympic champion in 2008 performed almost as quickly as possible: the 3.8 km swim in his pool with a counter current in 47 min 30 sec .; the 180 km on his exercise bike in 4 h 13 min and finally the 42.195 km marathon on his treadmill in ... 2 h 58 minutes, disrupted by a technical problem.
When he won the Hawaii Ironman in 2019, he finished the race in a record time of 7h 51m 13 seconds.
His performance was followed live by many people, including celebrities who covered him with praise.
"You look better on a bike than I do when playing soccer with my son," Dortmund midfielder and 2014 world champion Mario Götze had fun in a video message.
Former German alpine skier Felix Neureuther, winner of 13 World Cup events, also had fun: "You are crazy. Now I feel like I want to try an Ironman too. But I have to first learn to swim properly. "
Frodeno also managed to collect more than 200,000 euros, funds for charities fighting against the new coronavirus.
The athlete wants to distribute these revenues between Germany and Spain, a country hard hit by the epidemic which has already officially claimed more than 16,353 victims.
© 2020 AFP